Actually, particularly in Italy, the key is to avoid looking like a tourist in the first place. The locals often dress well with jewellery etc and never get any hassle. It's the obvious tourist wearing sneakers/trainers, dressed "for comfort", that draws attention - clearly not Italian, and probably carrying plenty of money (because tourists do), and not as aware of their surroundings.

I was in Rome back in 2000, and saw many gypsies pretty much everywhere we went-for those who don't know gypsies are notoriously skilled thieves. Some tactics include a bunch of gypsy kids waving newspapers in your face while one or two get in your pockets. Some gypsy mothers will tether their baby to their chest, leaving both hands free to dip into your pockets. I recently went back, just in October, and did not see one gypsy. Not sure why that was, I spent three times as long in the city as I did the last trip. Anyhow, perhaps things are bit better now-either way, using an in room safe or hotel front desk safe is a good idea, or getting a money belt....and being aware!

I have unfortunately nearly been the victim of pick pockets twice.

The first time was in Paris, I had just finished high school and was bumming Europe. I was on the metro, and I noticed this dude standing very close, then he moved to my other side. I noticed one pocket in my jacket was unzipped. The train jerks and I feel something against my body I look and see him with great speed removing his hand and my mobile, before I realised what i was doing I hoisted my leg between his, he was short. I am 6.5 and between his legs, lifting him off the floor. I picked my mobile up and he was on the floor, I got off at the next stop.

The second, was in Paris a few years later with college friends, under the Arc D' Triomf, some gypses came to me with their bands putting them onto your wrist, trying to sell them to you for an astronomical amount, the one was next to me who was skirting around I saw go for my wallet, I turned and shoved him, he fell onto the floor, before he could get it.

I am a very placid person but on both occasions I was very pissed off.

Really, who wouldn't be pissed off! I'm sure they steal to feed their families, but no matter how you look at it, it's a pretty hard act to defend....

I've probably spent 3-4 years of my life living or traveling in Europe and South America, but the only place I've been pickpocketed was at home, Boston at the time. Part of that may be because I rarely travel in summertime -- they say that the pickpockets work like seasonal migrant workers, descending on tourist destinations when the pickings are good. It's probably uncomfortable and unprofitable to lurk around the Coliseum in January.

Pickpockets are less of problem in January anyway as a person wearing a coat has many more pockets and it is difficult to see or reach the one with the loot.

This thread offers a few observations. One is that Rome and major other Italian sites have a problem with pickpockets, more so than other places. Sadly this is true, I've lost 3 wallets over the years, although not in Rome as it happens. I've been in Italy for the most of a year in total on multiple trips and I am not at all "bewildered and out of my element" there. I do not quite look Italian, but it is famously a country where people note differences in appearance and I do not think you can fool criminals easily .

There are two main approaches suggested on the thread, vigilance and keeping most of the good stuff out of the way. Vigilance has its own price, if you are spending your time watching your valuables, you spend less looking at Rome. These crooks are world class, and have a 100 strategies to relieve you of your possessions, unless you are trained you could hardly be vigilant enough. The last time my wallet was taken I would hardly have believed it possible, I knew who had taken it but couldn't do much about it. I very much favour the moneybelt approach, I have a cheap wallet, I put enough money in it for the next transaction, and if someone steals it I am down €10, but it doesn't bother me in the least.

Now there is a solution. I think I'll be wearing my long overcoat if the weather is cool enough. ^

Yes, sneakers, John Deere caps, "Acme Waste Removal" polo shirts, and "Hey honey!! Luhgga this!!"

Are there still a lot of pick pockets happening?

I just read news about government officials from the Philippines who had their bags stolen in the lobby of their hotel.

By percentage, no. The likelihood of any individual getting pick pocketed is statistically very low. However, given how many people visit Rome, Barcelona, Paris, and London, the number of victims is high. In my opinion, pick pocketing is 99% preventable.

That being said, I'm embarrassed to say that I lost my wallet this trip while in Matera. It's an extremely picturesque city of about 60,000. I drove in and parked my car in the garage. Except in places like Rome, Naples, Florence, or Venice, in the afternoon almost all stores are closed. On the three block walk to my hotel I saw one open bar, and I stopped for coffee. There was nobody else in there, and I chatted with the bartender for half an hour. He was never on my side of the counter. When I arrived to the hotel to check in, my wallet was not in my pocket. Disaster. I keep separate credit cards and money in my suitcase, so it wouldn't mean I'm wiped out, but still, a disaster.

I knew that I hadn't been pick pocketed because I didn't see any people except the one bartender who was never close to me. The streets are empty in Italy that part of the afternoon. In Rome I did buy a new pair of jeans that were pretty tight and had shallow pockets. I kept my phone and wallet in the left front pocket. I'm pretty sure that in pulling my phone out of the tight pocket to use the GPS to find the hotel, the wallet came out with it and fell to the floor.

I retraced my steps back to the bar, then to the car. No wallet. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at a different bar, this time to buy a glass of wine. I told the bartender that I lost my wallet. He said that all restaurants in Matera are linked by WhatsApp, and that he would send out a group message to every restaurant and bar owner in the city to see if anyone found a wallet. He also told me to call the police, to see if anyone turned it in. I thought the latter was a ridiculous idea. In it was a credit card, debit card, and about 200 euros. Who is going to turn that in?

After wandering around a little more, hoping to find it somewhere in the snow, I went back to the hotel and asked the clerk to call the police to see if it was turned in. She called the police, and the police said yes, they had it at the station. I walked to the station and picked it up, everything was intact. I asked who found it so that I could thank the person. They had his name, but no contact info. I asked where it was found, and they said Piazza Vittorio Veneto. That's the main plaza, right outside of the bar that I stopped in for coffee. So I basically dropped it in the street, someone picked it up, and walked a mile to the police station and handed it over without taking one euro.

I hope that story loosens some stereotypes about Italy.

For pick pocketing, it is a crime of opportunity. You can eliminate or severely reduce the risk. In Rome, to state the obvious, the major site for pick pocketing is the neighborhood around Termini. Second would be any crowded bus or train, especially the #64 bus from Termini through the tourist areas, to the Vatican. That bus route is called "wallet express." I used to take it every day, and stop someone from getting pick pocketed on almost every ride by telling them to pay attention. Around the Colosseo and Fountain of Trevi are also hot spots.

The main target these days is a cell phone, not your wallet. You can cancel your credit cards and might not have much money in your wallet, but thieves can quickly sell a cell phone for decent money. I can't say how many times I've seen someone's cell phone sticking partly out of their back pocket in a crowded place. The same with wallets, I see them sticking out all the time. I see women with open purses, carried over their shoulder, with the purse behind their arm.

Wallets belong in a front pocket, and should be put in the horizontally, rather than vertically. That makes it much harder to pick because the wallet will be deeper, and stuck more tightly in the pocket. If you have to put the wallet in vertically, it should be with the open side up, so that someone can't just stick their finger in your pocket and pull it out by hooking the fold.

Purses should have a zipper, not just a button for closure. That's not foolproof, but a purse with a zipper, and a zipper pocket inside for your wallet and phone makes it almost impossible for someone to pick pocket you. They'd have to open two zippers without you knowing it. If such a purse is carried in front of you and your arm is over the opening, then you cannot be pick pocketed.

You should only have one credit card with you, not an excessive amount of money, and don't carry your passport or drivers license with you. To have ID with you make a photocopy of your drivers license or passport, and carry that, so that you don't lose the real thing. The rest should be in the hotel safe. When I lost my wallet in Matera, I still had another credit card and a few hundred euros in my suitcase, so I wasn't going to be completely stuck.

If you have a zipper purse carried in front of you, or if you insert your wallet horizontally or upside down in your front pocket, you are very unlikely to get pick pocketed.

Some things to be aware of, there is no such thing as a stereotypical pick pocketer. This is their day job, and they dress up for it, often in a suit and tie, sometimes a young, stylishly dressed mother with a child, sometimes an elderly woman or man. Sure if you are surrounded by a group of gypsy's, especially children, you have just been targeted. Hold on to your wallet or purse, and start yelling "police." Don't let such an approach even happen.

Almost all pick pocketing is done by a group, usually of three people. It's very rare for someone to pickpocket on their own. Unless you're on a crowded bus with an open purse with your wallet sticking out on top, pickpocketing almost always starts by someone bumping into you, even very slightly. I don't want to make people feel paranoid because pickpocketing is not common, but you should generally have a reflex that if someone just bumped into you, elbowed you, or touched you, they just distracted you, and the person working with them put their fingers in your pocket or purse at that moment. The third person usually just walked by at that moment to momentarily shield you from the view of others so that they can't warn you, and to take the phone or wallet from the person who lifted it and keep moving. It just has to be a habit that when someone bumps into you or leans into your or touches you, watch your wallet or purse.

Forget about trying to not look like a tourist. Pick pocketing gangs can always tell who is a tourist and who is not, just by your haircut, and what you are looking at. You can look like a tourist, just don't look like a clueless tourist. You can walk around with a NY Yankee cap, in a Disneyland t-shirt, Bermuda shorts, and flip flops. If your back pockets are empty and your wallet is secure in your front pocket, or you have a closed, zippered purse held in front of you, they won't go after you, especially if you show enough awareness of space to not let people get close enough to bump into you or touch you. If you have to be touched, like on a crowded train, your hand should be in your pocket with your wallet, or your purse should be not just over your shoulder, but over your head and shoulder, and in front of you.

Be most careful on crowded trains and buses, where it is easy for someone to bump into you very slightly and make it feel completely normal because the bus is making a turn. Anybody weaving through the crowd in a crowded bus or train is probably a pickpocket. Normal people find a place to stand and stay put, they don't weave around. I used to see the same gangs on the #64 bus almost every day. Most romans recognize the pick pocketers. If you are on the bus or train and a couple of people get on and the Romans start leaning away from them or come to attention, then you should too.

I've never used one because I've never felt myself at risk for being pick pocketed, but I know that there are money belts that go underneath your clothes. That can make you pickpocket proof. A fanny pack, even one kept in front of you, is very vulnerable. Someone will open a map or a newspaper, or have their suit jacket over their arm, and place it a little over the fanny pack so that you can't see it for the few seconds it takes for someone to open it. In fact, no matter how well attired, keep people who have a jacket over their arm a safe distance from you. That jacket is used to hide their other hand from your view as it goes into your pocket or purse. The same with newspapers. They are often used to hide what they're doing with their other hand. You don't have to walk around Rome paranoid, but these are just normal useful habits to have in crowded European capital cities, whether it is Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, etc.

Pick pocketing crews aren't looking specifically for foreigners or tourists. They are looking for easy targets. If your wallet is deep and horizontal in your front pocket, well down from the opening, and that pocket has a button, and there is nothing in your back pocket, you are not making yourself an easy target, especially if you display enough awareness to not let people get too into your space. If you are a woman with a purse that has a zippered pocket inside for your wallet, and the purse itself is closed with a zipper, and the purse is in front of you and your arm across the opening, whether they identify you as a tourist or not, you won't get pick pocketed. If you are sensitive to the feeling of being even slightly bumped, pushed, elbowed, leaned on or to the feeling of suddenly being surrounded, you won't get pick pocketed.

You can lose, your wallet, like I did, but you won't get pick pocketed. Purse snatching and muggings are different things. Purse snatching is very rare, and only happens if you leave your purse somewhere, like in a shopping cart, or on the floor at an outside cafe. It is almost unheard of for someone to confront you and try to take your purse. Mugging for a purse or wallet is extremely rare in central Rome except around Termini, where it is not uncommon. A group tried to mug me a few years ago a few blocks from Termini, but didn't get anything, and that was around 7 PM, not late at night.

The above is not to make you paranoid, but I have too often seen desperate, really, really upset men in Rome, speaking on their cell phone to someone in USA saying, "Betsy had her purse stolen, that had her wallet, phone, and passport in it." And I know the empty feeling that I had when I lost my wallet, even though I knew it couldn't have been stolen, that it had fallen out of my own careless pocket. With simple measures, avoidance of crowded trains and buses, maintaining your space and not getting bumped, you can avoid being pick pocketed.

Really good advice, Perche!

I've been hit a few times over the years, although I've always caught them in the act.

Minimizing the cash and valuables you have when you go out is critical. Don't take $500 with you, if you're only going for an afternoon stroll.

For the last dozen years or so, I've gotten most of my casual shirts custom made in Asia, and have an inside pocket on all my shirts. Haven't lost anything since.

How about walking around holding the cellphone because you're looking at google maps? Will they snatch your cellphone from you?

No, that is very uncommon. Rome is a safe city. Pickpockets think they are just taking something from a careless person. To them, seeing a wallet or a phone in an open purse, or sticking out of someone's back pocket is like seeing it lying on the floor. They just pick it up. It's sneaky crime. There is very little confrontational crime where someone does something physical to you like grab, snatch, pull something, or threaten you. Yes, it can happen, but is less likely to happen in Rome than most other major cities. It's much less likely than in London or Paris, for example.

At night around Termini there is the occasional purse snatcher, where there is aggression, which is different from pick pocketing. it happens. Just take the usual precautions, especially on the train or bus.

Thanks Perche, your words are very reassuring especially for would be first time travellers to Italy.

Concerning the #64 bus in Rome:

I remember, many years ago, reading in La Rupubblica's local news pages that the police had plainclothes policemen travel back and forth on that bus. I don't remember the exact stats but they said that the number of cases had dropped substantially. No idea whether they still do it.

As for tourist areas or not, I "lost' my wallet in Rome in '97 on a very crowded bus at 7 pm on Corso Trieste which is anything but a tourist area. As our mod wrote, one has to be careful!

@Perche: Matera in the snow, this must be quite an experience. I've been there in July (never again, hottest place on earth) and then in March (absolutely great). Can you post a picture?